The first gold coin from the Czech Mint's four-part miniseries commemorating the events of the “Prague Spring“ is dedicated to “Socialism with a human face“.

In 1968, twenty years have passed since “Victory February“ - the coup that established communist totalitarianism in Czechoslovakia. Not only ordinary people yearned for change, but also the reformist communists at the head of the state. The reforms were intended to loosen the regime and accelerate democratisation, which included, for example, increased freedom of speech, the opening of borders, the orientation of the economy towards consumer goods, and the federalisation of Czechoslovakia into two equal republics. Thus began a process that the Western media called the “Prague Spring“ - modelled on the “Spring of Nations“, the patriotic uprising against the oppression of the Habsburg monarchy in 1848. The example of Czechoslovakia raised hopes in capitalist countries that even a communist country could make a smooth and non-violent transition to democracy. The free-thinking period of liberalisation under the leadership of the Slovak politician Alexander Dubček was to lead to the emergence of so-called “socialism with a human face“, but the Soviet Union was not going to stand by and watch it lose influence in Central Europe…

The elaborated reverse side of the coin, which is the work of the medal maker Mgr. Art. Miroslav Hric, Art. D., presents a silhouette of Alexander Dubček filled with torn mesh, from behind which a flock of birds flies out. Another part of the puzzle is a scene from a well-known photograph of Alexander Dubček jumping into a swimming pool - this act gave the politician the hallmark of humanity, because in other circumstances communist officials only performed at formal events... The obverse side of the coin then follows the reverse side - it presents torn barbed wire and birds flying to freedom. As the coins of the Czech Mint are issued with the foreign license of the island of Niue, they bear on the obverse side its national emblem, the nominal value TEN DOLLARS (NZD) and the year of issue 2023.

The next three coins also commemorate the events of the groundbreaking year 1968. The complete collection can be stored in a collector's case that can also be found in the Czech Mint's offer.